There are many industries that rely on technology in order to continue growing and keeping their customers happy. A lot of the time this technology is around improving the user experience, offering fast transaction times and upgrading what is offered to customers. For example, the finance industry used to have a standard 3-5 working days for transactions to be completed, but we now see most peer to peer transactions completed almost immediately. The gambling industry is one that has had to keep on top of ever-changing technology to ensure that its users are kept happy. Casinos are keen to stay ahead of the competition so ensuring that they’re up to date with trends and what customers might want is a great way to do this. The introduction of Cryptocurrency casinos has certainly been driven by customer need and so far, it’s proving pretty popular.
A History of Cryptocurrency
The gambling industry has seen changes brought by the ever-increasing use of cryptocurrency. The first crypto transaction, with the cryptocurrency acting as real currency and being used to buy goods, is cited as a 10000 Bitcoin transaction to buy 2 pizzas in 2010. From such beginnings, crypto has rocketed in value. That 10000 ‘ Bitcoin’ would now be worth close to £450million. The increase in the value of crypto, in general, indicates how popular the electronic currency has become over the last ten years. Now no longer a curiosity of the internet, but a viable means of transferring funds.
The Introduction of Cryptocurrency to the Casino Industry
Some gambling sites now accept Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and the recently publicised Dogecoin. As the volume of funds held in Cryptocurrencies has increased, so has the uptake of the tokens as a payment method on gambling sites.
In general, society is moving more and more towards an electronic banking system where traditional banknotes and physical coins are spent less and less each day. The recent global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have given rise to a new need to pay for goods and services that are delivered directly to our doors. Traditional currency has its limitations in these types of transactions where no face to face contact is required. These limitations of physical currency would pose a massive issue for online gambling and gaming sites. Initially, the industry welcomed online payment systems such as PayPal and Skrill as a way of receiving gaming funds.
How People Want To Pay For Gambling Transactions
Although most casinos still offer debit card as a way to top up a casino account, lots of people now opt towards e-wallet providers to spend money online, with the casino industry being no exception. The ease of carrying out these transactions and the fact you don’t need to share your personal banking details online has definitely helped to drive up the popularity of e-wallet transactions.
The advantages of online payment systems such as these are clear but for gambling, which has always been an area where individuals and the gaming businesses they transact with have welcomed anonymity and security of transactions, these systems leave an often undesirable but very visible trail of transactions. For example, if you are looking to improve your credit score or apply for a mortgage in the not too distant future then you may want to avoid a splattering of casino and betting transactions from showing on your bank account – e-wallet transactions help with this in some way.
The Use of Cryptocurrency
The fact that Cryptocurrency is somewhat untraceable will definitely have been a deciding factor when it comes to some people using it to carry out gambling transactions. Whereas a bank would hold your records for a good number of years (what you have spent, where you have spent it) Cryptocurrency does not have these issues, in a secure way crypto gives us the ability to transfer money, pay for goods and services without the detailed entries into back records that traditional currencies require. With these clear advantages for gamblers, it was not long before the world of online gambling took to these new currencies and integrated them within its gaming platforms.
Although e-wallet transactions are still out in front when it comes to carrying out casino (and most eCommerce) transactions many experts believe there will be a time when Cryptocurrency overtakes this – after all, there will have been a time when debit/credit cards were favour of the month. As more casino platforms opt to expand their payment choice offers by adding Cryptocurrency to their platforms, the more likely we are to see an uptake in this payment option. That is why TopRatedCasinos.ie highlight many of the online casinos in Ireland who accept Bitcoin as a form of payment – great news for those that are interested in Bitcoin because it means there should be something to suit without too much hassle at all.
The Future of Technology in Gambling
One of the things that we’ll always see technology having an effect on is the type of games that are on offer and how these can be played. Online Casino goers will generally be keen to play a wide variety of games and casinos will be keen to keep customers coming back to them rather than jumping to an alternative platform; therefore upgrading their games is a must. Recent technology advances we have seen have been around mobile casino play – where players can now swipe the screen to spin the reel of a slot machine rather than press a button. It might seem like a small change but it is one that makes the game feel much more interactive and therefore more likely to keep players interested long term. Much like the live video games that we have been be introduced with online poker, we’re likely to see games become much more interactive in a bid to keep players interested and ensure that their attention is held. This alongside ever-increasing ways to fund your account through the likes of various Cryptocurrencies is likely to be what the casino industry sees in the way of change in the immediate future.
